Paedophile protection software commercialised for marketers

US-- A tool originally developed to protect children from suspected paedophiles by analysing language in online conversations is to be made available to marketers.

SearchHelp, a software company specialising in the development of online parental control tools, is to commercialise its sentiment analysis technology to make it available to advertisers and marketers.

The automated software, which is sold to households as Sentry Parental Controls, analyses, in real time, content in emails, blogs, forums and messaging programmes by identifying emotion and tone.

SearchHelp's chief technology officer, Charles Davis, said: "The commercialisation of this technology will help advertisers and marketers acquire a deeper understanding of both their customers and their competitive market position by providing a true and objective measure of how their customers feel."

• IBM has developed software that uses maths algorithms to extract and deliver business intelligence to aid companies trying to improve customer relations.

ProAct, which was designed at the company's research centre in India, uses text analytics, machine learning and natural language techniques to monitor call centre interactions over the telephone and via email.

It can log the customer's reason for dissatisfaction, the call centre operative's performance and typical product problems.

Author: James Verrinder